On Jul 9, 9:14*pm, Martin Petrov wrote:

On 8 July, 20:57, 1506 wrote:

[snip]

None-the-less, I think this may indicate a way forward for suburban
rail development. *It seems that the market will pay more for a
superior product.

Remember, if you live in Ashford and work in London, chances a

a) you have kids
b) you have a fairly decent job

If someone offered you an extra 2 hours (approx?) every day to spend
with your kids or playing 5-a-side or lying in bed in the morning (or
whatever the hell you do with your spare time....), and all it cost
you was £8 (approx?) a day, you'd do it, right? Who wouldn't?

Just £4.40 for an extra hour in bed every day? Priceless.

Agreed - but it's worth bearing in mind that the HS1 line cost
something like £5 billion, which was basically covered by government
loan guarantees to the company that built it, L&CR - loans that the
government eventually decided to write off recently (and by 'write
off' I basically mean 'pay off', by providing state aid to L&CR to
enable them to do so, before then taking ownership of the company with
a view to splitting it up and selling it off later).

I don't quite think the market is prepared to pay the true costs of
such a development - and I don't think the country (in the form of
taxpayers) is willing to pay for it either (at least not again!),
especially if the end result is basically subsidising the lifestyle
choices of the more affluent! Those commuters in and around Ashford
and on the route of SE HS services have got something of a bargain...
especially as their house prices will likely go up as well (as it will
for non-commuters too).

£5 billion can buy a lot of light rail systems, improvements in
suburban rail services and bus services, cycle and walking route
improvements and other more general improvements to towns and cities
that boost the quality of life for all.